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Wine makers open new African frontier with Dragon Mountain vines

SOUTH AFRICA’s wine industry is centered around Cape Town. But pioneers far to the northeast are forging a new frontier in unlikely surroundings as changing weather patterns test long-held conventions.
Cathedral Peak wine estate’s vines grow in the foothills of the Central Drakensberg, or “Dragon Mountains,” the towering range that forms a natural western boundary for KwaZulu-Natal province. Producing wine here at 1,100 meters means turning tradition on its head and nurturing grapes in steamy summer rainfall, rather than the Mediterranean climate and cool, wet winters of the much more celebrated Western Cape.
Owner Mauritz Koster admits that local farmers said he was crazy when he ripped out some of his cornfields in 2007 and planted grapes. Twelve years on, he is cultivating merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and pinotage, the South African-developed cinsaut-pinot noir hybrid. The wines, made by Flip Smith, are winning local awards.
“The summer rainfall adds a novel aspect to wine-making and that, I believe, adds to its uniqueness,” Koster said on his farm as the 2019 harvest got into gear on a warm February afternoon. While his pinot noir vines are “showing promise,” white-wine varietals such as sauvignon blanc have proved less able to cope with the conditions.
Day-time temperatures are around 32 degrees Celsius (90° Fahrenheit) in January and February, which means the fruit must be picked before their sugar content runs riot. Then there’s the hail, a feature of the summer months that requires Koster to protect his vineyards with nets. The vines run east to west to give the prevailing wind the best chance of drying them out after storms. Even so, the grapes must be sprayed for protection against mildew, the destructive white rust that flourishes on moist vines.
At least Koster and Smith don’t have to fret about the changing rainfall patterns and record drought that have caused years of anguish in the vineyards of the Western Cape. Changes to the climate have been a factor in the declining number of producers in the province, which local industry group VinPro says has dropped by 25% in the past decade.
South Africa is the world’s ninth-largest wine-making nation, supported by producers in emerging areas far from the Cape’s Stellenbosch and Franschhoek heartlands. Koster and Smith aren’t alone in KwaZulu-Natal, where the area under vine is increasing. Wines are also bottled by the Abingdon and Highgate estates in the Lions River district to the south east.
Local recognition for Cathedral Peak includes winning, appropriately, “most innovative wine” at the 2017 Michelangelo competition. Platter’s, a 700-page guidebook clutched by South African wine lovers as they tour estates for tastings, says Smith, a third-generation wine maker from the Robertson area, “deals with challenges that might shock his Western Cape counterparts.”
The estate’s merlot has “expressive fruit,” according to the 2019 salmon-colored edition of the volume, while the pinotage displays “prosciutto” and “salty liquorice savoriness.” Both cost 160 rand ($11) at the cellar door.
Koster intends to expand the size of future harvests through what he calls an outgrowers program that started in 2016, involving commercial and subsistence farmers in the surrounding community. That will boost the area planted with vines to 90 hectares (220 acres) by 2021, compared with the 29 hectares on the farm.
The initiative has backing from the government, which has agreed to provide about $11,000 for each hectare over five years, with the proviso that 30 jobs be created at each site. If the plans go well, opening a new wine frontier as South Africa contends with climate change may tackle another of the country’s problems — unemployment. — Bloomberg

Philippine Infradev subsidiary for subway project gets SEC nod

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the application of Philippine Infradev Holdings, Inc. (formerly IRC Properties, Inc.) to incorporate the Makati City Subway, Inc., which will take charge of its underground railway project in Makati City.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Wednesday, the Antonio L. Tiu-led firm said Makati City Subway, Inc. will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Philippine Infradev, which will have “an authorized capital stock of P16 billion, of which P4 billion has been subscribed with P1 billion as paid-up capital.”
The Certificate of Incorporation from the SEC was given on Mar. 4. “The Makati City Subway, Inc. shall be the corporate vehicle that will be used by the Company for the Makati Subway project,” Philippine Infradev said.
Philippine Infradev is the proponent of the $3.7-billion Makati City Subway Project, which aims to build a 10-kilometer intracity railway system in the business district. It wants to connect Ayala Avenue to the area of Ospital ng Makati in around 15 minutes.
The listed firm is joined by Chinese firms Greenland Holdings Group, Jiangsu Provincial Construction Group Co. Ltd., Holdings Ltd. and China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd., which signed a memorandum of understanding with the Makati City government last year. The 30-year concession agreement for the project is expected to be signed this year.
In December, the group started the preparatory works for the project such as soil testing. The subway is targeted to open in 2025, by which it is expected to accommodate 700,000 passengers daily.
The Makati City Subway Project is eyed to have links to other railways in the area such as the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 and the Metro Manila Subway Project, which is scheduled for completion in 2025 also. — Denise A. Valdez

Toshiba brings appliances to PHL market

TOSHIBA HAS reintroduced a line of products taking inspiration from Japan’s “Takumi Spirit” in the Philippines through its local partner Concepcion Midea, Inc.
“The backbone of Japan culture and the way they do their things, even when they make their sushi, the way they curve, it’s done with perfection, craftsmanship, and precision. That’s the background behind Toshiba. We want to do our products well with the Japan quality,” Jose Luis P. Hidalgo, business unit head of Toshiba, told BusinessWorld in an interview during the product launch held late February.
The event served to reintroduce Toshiba’s appliance products to the Philippines. The products include a range of refrigerators — from side-by-side, French-door, and two-door top mount refrigerators. A line of washing machines will also be made available in the country, as well as water dispensers.
The refrigerator line’s prices range from below P20,000 to about P80,000. For the washing machines, it ranges from P8,000 to P65,000, while the water dispensers are priced from P7,000 to P11,000.
The Japanese company reintroduced these products in the country through its local partner Concepcion Midea, a joint venture company of Filipino company Concepcion Group and Chinese-company Midea.
“I wouldn’t say we are expensive. We’re at the mid-price. We have a dual strategy with our partner company, which is Midea… They sell to practical consumers, so parang (like) first-time workers who want an appliance brand, but Toshiba naman (on the other hand), what we do is we target the modern go-getter… The ambitious go-getter is someone who wants to have it all for her family. There’s a level of success already, and then she wants good quality,” Mr. Hidalgo said.
Following its reintroduction of its appliances, the company is very positive of its growth in the Philippines.
“The current business atmosphere in the country is very positive — a growing economy, a young and dynamic population, and a positive confidence level in both business and consumer sentiments… And with the competitive Toshiba products we will be launching, we are confident that we will be able to sin the heart of consumers in the Philippines,” the company said in a statement on Feb. 26. — V.M.P. Galang

Deutsche Bank faces merger pushback with jobs at risk

DEUTSCHE BANK may have to delay its planned merger with Commerzbank. — REUTERS

DEUTSCHE BANK AG faces stiff resistance from some supervisory board members to a merger with German competitor Commerzbank AG as the deal raises the prospect of tens of thousands of job cuts.
Jan Duscheck and Stephan Szukalski, two key labor representatives on Deutsche Bank’s highest oversight body, oppose the merger, saying a combination would fail to achieve the goal of strengthening the bank while resulting in massive staff cuts.
As many as 30,000 positions could be at risk if a deal were agreed, according to people familiar with the matter.
“We reject a merger,” Duscheck — who has served on Deutsche Bank’s supervisory board since 2016 — said in an emailed statement.
The deal would make the combined bank even more susceptible to a hostile takeover from abroad and “would not create a national champion.”
Regulators and shareholders are also questioning the rationale of a combination, showing the hurdles that Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing and his Commerzbank counterpart Martin Zielke would need to overcome.
After struggling for years to boost profitability and stem a prolonged decline in revenue, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank are edging closer to a merger as Germany’s largest listed lenders run out of time to show restructuring efforts are paying off. Finance Minister Olaf Scholz suggested Monday that the government is serving as a “ companion” to the discussions.
Deutsche Bank shares were little changed in Frankfurt trading on Wednesday, while Commerzbank was down 0.4%. Both stocks have tumbled about 40% over the past 12 months.
SKEPTICAL STAKEHOLDERS
The job cuts that would be required to make a deal work are a particularly high obstacle. When the banks last engaged in informal merger talks almost three years ago, their plans foresaw eliminating 20,000 to 30,000 positions, according to a person involved in the talks at the time.
Cuts of a similar magnitude would likely be required this time around as well, according to people familiar with current discussions.
A merger would be “economic nonsense” that would cost thousands of jobs, Szukalski, head of German banking union DBV, said in a statement.
Labor leaders aren’t the only ones with reservations. Representatives of two large Deutsche Bank shareholders have expressed doubts about a combination with Commerzbank, preferring instead to trim the lender’s US operations, according to people briefed on the matter.
Financial regulators are wary too, though they could be swayed if the banks present a viable business model and show that the new entity would be sufficiently capitalized, some of the people said. Deutsche Bank has been in touch with regulators on the deal, but at an informal level that hasn’t necessitated public disclosure, one said.
Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank declined to comment.
JOB CONCERNS
Employee representatives are powerful forces in German companies, generally making up half the seats on supervisory boards, which hire and fire senior executives and sign off on major strategy decisions. Still, Deutsche Bank has shown in the past that it can overcome union opposition.
Two years ago, Ver.di representatives said they were “critical” of a Deutsche Bank plan to abandon the sale of retail subsidiary Postbank in part because of risks of layoffs. Just a month later, the lender made the decision anyway, and Frank Bsirske — the union’s boss and a Deutsche Bank supervisory-board member since 2013 — publicly welcomed the move.
Employment security is again a critical concern for Ver.di, which fears overlap between the two lenders, which largely compete for the same corporate business.
“At least 10,000 further jobs would be directly threatened,” Duscheck said.
“That would be in addition to jobs that would probably have to go in the future because the merged bank, seen from today, would not achieve the growth expected of it.” — Bloomberg

Can Studio 54 founder Ian Schrager make Times Square cool again?

JUST A few months ago, Vice News published a story with a provocative headline: “The Coolest Place to Get a Drink in Midtown Manhattan Is the New Taco Bell.”
The title was tongue-in-cheek, but it speaks to a broader truth: Midtown Manhattan has never been a bustling epicenter of places you’d want to be. Enter Ian Schrager, the visionary behind the original midtown hotspot, Studio 54. On March 12, his latest collaboration with Marriott International, Inc., Times Square Edition, was set to open with 452 rooms, two restaurants by Dovetail and Narcissa’s John Fraser, and, yes, a boundary-pushing nightclub — all in a 42-story tower that hovers high above the area’s supersized billboards.
The hotel is the ninth for Edition, a brand whose minimalist-chic aesthetic has always served as a monochromatic backdrop for beautiful, tan, and well-dressed guests. It’s also the latest project to bear Schrager’s signature — the septuagenarian is credited with inventing the boutique hotel in the 1980s with Morgans Hotel Group, and his most influential properties have included Miami’s Delano Hotel, the Mondrian in West Hollywood, and the democratic, yet design-forward Public in New York’s Lower East Side.
But even for someone of Schrager’s magnitude, making Times Square cool — and luring Manhattanites to the neighborhood they most love to hate — is a tall order.
“I’ve always met the same skepticism,” Schrager tells Bloomberg on a recent first-look tour of the hotel, ahead of its official opening. “This time they’re skeptical that we would be able to attract in-the-know New Yorkers to Times Square. But I’ve done that so many times,” he adds, referring not just to Studio 54 but to the Royalton Hotel on 44th Street and the Hotel Paramount on 46th, with its famed Whiskey bar. “Times Square is absolutely not an issue,” he says defiantly. “For New Yorkers, as long as there’s a good product, they will go anywhere.”
MAKING THE SQUARE SOPHISTICATED
Based on looks alone, Times Square Edition will have no trouble establishing itself as a mature oasis from one of the world’s most frenetic crossroads. Its all-white entrance — a narrow corridor decorated with just one piece of art, a glowing metallic green orb — offers a kind of sensory deprivation that offsets the noise just outside. (The hotel’s neighbor is, glamorously, a Hershey’s store.)
At reception, on the 10th floor, ebonized black floors give way to a monolithic black desk backed by a green wall and flanked by gauzy white curtains. (It’s a look that will feel familiar to anyone who’s visited previous Editions.) To one side, an illuminated, onyx-colored staircase leads to Fraser’s Michelin-aspiring restaurant, 701West; to the other, a series of sitting rooms progresses from all-black to all-white. It all culminates in what Schrager calls the Bladerunner terraces: They’re strategically planted with boxwoods and evergreens to shield the view of office buildings and focus attention on the hive of Times Square below, so that you feel at once separated from and part of the bustle.
“When you walk through this floor, you couldn’t be further away from Times Square,” says Schrager. “Then you come outside, and you’ve got a bird’s eye view of all the reverie; you can appreciate the brilliance and luminosity of the whole area. It’s magical.”
For overnight guests, rooms on lower floors capture that magic better than rooms on the upper floors; their views are eye-level with massive billboards, offering an impressive sense of scale that’s lost farther up. But all rooms and suites — including the 1,880-square-foot penthouse — are smartly designed in a soothing ivory-and-blond wood color palette that either calms you from the chaos outdoors when the drapes are closed, or pulls your attention to it when they’re open. Even the smallest rooms feel airy, thanks to such inventive touches as recessed panels for the televisions and an open-flow layout between bedroom and bathroom.
“The room design is the most difficult aspect of any hotel,” says Schrager. “I wanted these to feel like a cabin on a yacht: very calming and luxurious.”
‘BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME’
The Times Square Edition’s experiment comes at an opportune time. Tech companies are reinvesting in the area’s expansive office spaces, with local tenants including Microsoft, Adobe, and Snapchat. Soon, Amazon.com will have a $55 million space in Hudson Yards, the super-mall and skyscraper complex a half-mile west and a half-mile south of the 42nd street subways.
It’s a pattern that has played out in Manhattan before, says Nancy Novogrod, the longtime editor-in-chief of Travel and Leisure magazine who now runs Culturati Travel Design, an arts and culture-focused branch of the powerhouse travel agency Valerie Wilson Travel Inc. “We saw this happen around Columbus Circle with the Mandarin Oriental, along 57th Street with the Park Hyatt, and around the High Line with the Standard.” In other words, hotels can often signal a changing tide in blighted or underappreciated parts of the city.
In many ways, building a luxury-branded hotel in Times Square feels like grabbing low-hanging fruit. “The area is full of mediocre places,” says Jack Ezon, founder and managing partner of New York-based travel agency Embark. “The W tried to change that 15 years ago, but they went in a somewhat grungy direction, and other places like the Knickerbocker have come in with nice rooftops but little else. There’s a real opportunity there.” (The Times Square Edition doesn’t have a true rooftop bar, but between its expansive patios and the stunning indoor-outdoor garden on the ninth-floor, it will have plenty of Instagrammable places to gather.)
CONVINCING THE LOCALS
These days, a mark of success for any hotel is whether locals hang out there — and getting locals to hang out in Times Square will largely become the challenge facing chef John Fraser, who’s tasked with running the ambitious fine-dining 701West and the all-day Terrace restaurant. “The real question is, ‘How do you train a New Yorker to stop being prejudiced about this area?’” observes Fraser. “They’ve come around to Bushwick, the Financial District, even the Upper West Side — but Times Square is the last place to be accepted.”
Perhaps the best answer is the Paradise Club, on the hotel’s seventh floor. While it seems like this theater-turned-disco — with its Bosch-meets-Dali murals, checkerboard floors, and enormous projection screen — should bear all 10 fingerprints of Studio 54’s mastermind, it’s the one space Schrager fully outsourced. House of Yes, a Bushwick, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based outfit known for its zany breed of “performance-fueled nightlife,” is in charge of the nightly four-act show, which will include a rotating mix of dance, aerials, opera, contortion, and magic segments — all projected (at least occasionally) in real-time on a 17,000-square-foot Jumbotron on the building’s façade.
“We had no parameters; it just had to be awesome,” says Anya Sapozhnikova, founder of House of Yes, whose collaborators include Patrick Woodroffe, longtime lighting designer for the Rolling Stones.
Before the show, Fraser will serve a pre-theater menu, including oysters and wagyu beef seared on a hot stone. And afterward? “All of the sudden, with the flip of a switch, the show ends and it turns into a nightclub, with the show coming out and becoming part of the audience and a DJ booth coming onto the stage,” Schrager says. He expects the party to cap out at 400 people and stretch until 4 a.m. “Believe me, if we didn’t have to close at 4, we would never close,” he adds.
THE LONG GAME
All this might give New Yorkers reason to shed their preconceptions about Times Square — at least long enough to see what the fuss is about. “People won’t stay away from something new that Ian does,” opines Novogrod.
“He’ll get people in for the opening,” Novogrod adds, “and then Marriott can take over with its marketing and its powerful loyalty program.” The combination, she says, is strong. It’s also risky: If the crowd makes the hotel, relying on loyalists rather than taste makers to fill the rooms can dilute its social cachet.
For his part, Schrager is confident that his project will inspire local developers to reach for a higher bar. “We’re going to usher in a new era for Times Square,” Schrager declares. “Everything is going to change, and we’re going to be the first ones — you’re going to see more luxury hotels, more sophisticated retail, better restaurants.”
“Every great city in the world has a central place like Times Square,” Schrager continues. “But this is no. 1 — this is the most important — so we shouldn’t turn our back on it.” — Bloomberg

DICT to sign MoUs with 2 tower providers

TWO more common tower providers are scheduled to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government in a bid to enter the Philippine market.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said it will be signing MoUs with South Korea’s Shinheung Telecom Co. Ltd. and Filipino company Alt-Global Solutions, Inc. today (March 14).
The two companies will join 13 other firms that are eyeing to become providers of telecommunications infrastructure to network operators Smart Communications, Inc.; Globe Telecom, Inc. and incoming third telco Mislatel Consortium.
Last month, the DICT held a meeting with telcos and tower providers in a meeting to address questions on the common tower initiative of the government. The three telcos were asked to come up with a list of locations where they are planning to roll out towers this year.
DICT Acting Secretary Eliseo M. Rio, Jr. said in a text message on Wednesday they are “finalizing this (list) by the end of this month.”
The tower providers are expected to help the DICT in forming a revised common tower policy, which will differ from Presidential Adviser Ramon P. Jacinto’s draft last year that restricted the building of towers to two registered providers.
Mr. Rio said they are aiming to put out the new draft policy by the second quarter.
So far, 13 tower companies have signed MoUs with the DICT. These are: ISOC Infrastructures, Inc.; ISON ECP Tower Pte. Ltd.; IHS Holding Ltd. (IHS Towers); edotco Group Sdn Bhd; China Energy Equipment Co. Ltd.; RT Telecom Sdn Bhd.; Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc.; MGS Construction, Inc.; Frontier Tower Associates Management Pte. Ltd.; the consortium of Global Networks, Inc. (GNI) and JTower, Inc.; American Tower Corp. (ATC); J.S. Cruz Construction and Development, Inc.; and Desarrollos Terrestres (DT Towers).
The MoUs are valid for one year, and state that the DICT will assist the tower firms in securing regulatory permits once they seal a deal with telcos for installing cell sites. — Denise A. Valdez

AT&T dives in to esports with ESL mobile sponsorship

AT&T INC. is quickly becoming one of the larger sponsors of video game competitions with the announcement Monday it’s backing a new amateur mobile gaming tournament.
The company will be the founding sponsor of the ESL Mobile Open, which kicks off its first season March 18. Any player who wants to join can enter the tournaments, which feature the titles PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Clash of Clans and Asphalt 9: Legends. Winners will compete in finals later this year with a $330,000 prize pool.
Esports, where contestants play video games in front of live and online audiences, is drawing some of the largest names in corporate advertising including Intel Corp., Coca-Cola Co. and Mercedes-Benz AG. Overall corporate sponsorships of esports competitions are expected to climb 34% to $457 million this year, according to the researcher Newzoo.
AT&T, which backed its first video game tournaments in June, has since promoted the Razer, a phone popular with gamers, and sponsored Cloud9, a Los Angeles-based esports team.
The competitions allow the second-largest US wireless carrier to reach a young, tech-savvy audience with a lifetime of telecom and entertainment spending ahead of them, according to Shiz Suzuki, assistant vice president of sponsorships and experiential marketing for Dallas-based AT&T.
Future partnerships may include hosting meet-and-greets with esports stars at AT&T wireless stores and promoting games published by its recently acquired Warner Media business at the tournaments.
Mobile is the fastest-growing category of video games, thanks in part to titles like Fortnite that can be played on any device. The emerging nature of the business poses challenges, such as whether contestants should sit or stand when playing games on a stage, and where to best put cameras to capture the action.
“You’ll see us experimenting a lot,” Yvette Martinez-Rea, chief executive officer of ESL’s North America unit, said in an interview. “It’s very much evolving week over week.”
ESL is majority owned by Stockholm-based Modern Times Group. — Bloomberg

PSBank to raise P40B via peso bond program

PSBank
PHILIPPINE Savings Bank will raise P40 billion through bonds.

By Karl Angelo N. Vidal, Reporter
PHILIPPINE SAVINGS Bank (PSBank) is looking to raise P40 billion through peso-denominated bonds to diversify its funding sources.
In a disclosure to the local bourse on Wednesday, the thrift banking arm of Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) said its board of directors approved during its March 12 meeting the issuance of fixed-rate peso bonds amounting to P40 billion, which will be done in multiple tranches.
“The P40 billion peso bond program of PSBank aims to diversify the bank’s funding alternatives tapping long term funds and at the same time, targeting not just retail but institutional investors as well,” PSBank President Jose Vicente L. Alde told BusinessWorld in an e-mail yesterday.
He added that the funds which will be raised from the bond issuance will “support the expansion of our consumer banking business.”
However, Mr. Alde noted that the bond issuance has “no definite timeline yet.”
The Ty-led thrift lender is one of the lenders who recently tapped the peso bond market after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) relaxed its rules on banks’ fund-raising activities.
Circular No. 1010 issued by the BSP in August simplifies the process for universal and commercial banks looking to raise funds via bonds, doing away with having to secure approval from them.
The reform is part of streamlined rules designed to deepen capital markets.
PSBank’s parent Metrobank, Bank of the Philippine Islands, BDO Unibank, Inc. and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. have recently issued peso-denominated instruments to diversify funding sources and expand its businesses.
Meanwhile, UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc., Security Bank Corp. and Philippine National Bank have also established their own local currency bond programs to be issued in several tranches.
In September, the savings bank issued P10 billion worth of medium-term notes for medium-term and stable funding.
PSBank also raised P8 billion from its stock rights offer in January, selling 142.9 million common shares priced at P56 apiece.
In a separate disclosure yesterday, PSBank said its board of directors approved the increase in the bank’s authorized capital stock to P6 billion from the current P4.25 billion.
“The increase of the bank’s authorized capital stock will provide the bank flexibility for any potential business opportunity in the future which may require sufficient authorized and unissued shares,” Mr. Alde said.
However, he noted that the increase in capital is still subject to the approval of the bank’s stockholders at its annual meeting in April.
PSBank reported a net income of P2.7 billion in 2018, flat from the previous year’s level, as its lending and deposit-taking businesses continued to expand.
PSBank shares closed at P58 apiece on Wednesday, down 80 centavos or 1.36%.

Classic 2015 Barolos on their way

THE highlight of Nebbiolo Prima has always been the preview of the Barolos, the flagship wine of Piedmont. In the 2019 edition of Nebbiolo Prima, a vast majority or approximately two-thirds of all the wines blind-tasted were from the Barolo region.
The Barolo region has higher altitude vineyards compared to Barbaresco, and is located more to the south-west, while Barbaresco is north-east of Langhe. Within Barolo, communes do vary too in altitude, with Serralunga d’Alba and Monforte d’Alba on the higher areas and Castiglioni Falleto and La Morra on the lower slopes.
2015: AN EXCELLENT VINTAGE
In 2015, the Langhe in Piedmont experienced its hottest July since 1880 which could have dramatically affected the quality of the wine. But fortuitous circumstances not only saved the vines but also helped push the quality of the 2015 such that it is one of the most anticipated vintages of the region of late.
The windy conditions of July and August gave the vines much needed relief from the heat. The higher sloped Barolo region benefited more from the winds in aiding the proper ripening of the nebbiolo grapes. The wet winter at the start of the year resulted in plenty of reservoir water which came in handy in combating the dry and hot summer.
The nebbiolo was harvested in the last week of September, with yields from vineyards falling by as much as double-digit percentages from normal yields. Quality, however, was considered unanimously as from very good to exceptional.
BLIND-TASTED AND RATED
Of the 288 wines featured at the Nebbiolo Prima, 163 were from the Barolo 2015 vintage and 32 were from the Barolo Riserva 2013 vintage. Some of the best Barolos I have tasted in my past three visits to Nebbiolo Prima came from this batch. Consider that in Nebbiolo Prima 2015, I blind-tasted 268 Barolo 2011 and 40 Barolo Riserva 2009 wines; in Nebbiolo Prima 2016, the number of wines went up further, with 272 Barolo 2012 and 44 Barolo Riserva 2010 wines — easily over 60% more than the Barolos I tasted in the most recent Nebbiolo Prima.
At Nebbiolo Prima 2019, wines from the Barolo communes of Verduno, Monforte d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto, and even smaller ones with one or two wineries like Rodi and Diano d’Alba, were extremely impressive. I gave 65 of the 163 Barolo 2015 scores of 90 points and above — this represents 39.9% of all Barolo wines tasted. While for Barolo Riserva 2013, I gave nine of the 32 wines 90 points, 28.1% of the total Riservas tasted.
There are 10 communes within the Barolo DOCG region, namely: La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Barolo, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto, Novello, Verduno, Rodi, Cherasco, and Diano d’Alba. Of the 163 Barolo DOCG wines blind-tasted, 36 come from La Morra, 29 from Monforte d’Alba, 23 from Barbaresco (the commune of the same regional name), 22 from Serralunga d’Alba, 13 from Castiglione Falletto, 10 from Novello, eight from Verduno, two from Rodi, one apiece from Cherasco and Diano d’Alba, and 18 with no specific communes/blended from different communes.
Note that Barolo DOCG requires an ageing period of 38 months (including 18 months in oak barrels) before commercial release, while Barolo Riserva DOCG requires an ageing period of 62 months (including 18 months in oak barrels). Both these age requirements are 14 months above their Barbaresco counterparts.
Below are my top wines from this batch of Barolo DOCG 2015:
Rank # 1-2: 95 points
1. Cascina Sòt Barolo DOCG 2015 — “fruit forward, jammy nose, luscious, lovely expression, deep and delicious, racy acids, powerful with amazing relentless length; good for long haul but with some breathing, wine tastes so well even now”
2. Castello di Verduno Barolo DOCG 2015 — “fragrant, very fruity, alluring, powerful mouthfeel, good concentration, very supple with so much depth, continues to evolve beautifully, a superbly balanced wine”
Rank # 3-4: 94 points
3. Bel Colle Barolo DOCG 2015 Monvigliero — “sophisticated nose, black cherries, nice subtle oak, delicious fruits from start to finish, racy acids, high ageing potential; surreal”
4. Mauro Veglio Barolo DOCG 2015 Gattera — “vanilla, mint, more captivating with each whiff, good complexity, tannins still firm, packed with flavors, extremely generous with so much more to give for so many years to come”
Rank #5-10: 93 points.
5. Dosio Barolo DOCG 2015 — “very vivacious, fruit salad, tantalizing acid, ripe and juicy all the way; an extraordinary wine”
6. La Collina di Dioniso Barolo DOCG 2015 — “vanilla, cookies and cream, spicy, flinty, complex on the mouth with so much happening intertwining fruits and herbs, bitter-sweet finish”
7. Morra Diego Barolo DOCG 2015 Monvigliero — “fresh, ripe, alluring, deeply concentrated, spicy, cinammon, supple on the palate with provocative lingering finish”
8. Pelassa Barolo DOCG 2015 San Lorenzo — “surreal nose of intensity and depth, very fresh with so much vivacious fruits, supple on palate, lots of flavors from red berries to white chocolate, very lengthly finish”
9. Pietro Rinaldi Barolo DOCG 2015 Monvigliero — “more subtle nose, vanilla, cedar-sweet, delicious on palate, full-flavored, long and concentrated at the end”
10. Pira Luigi di Gianpaolo Pira Barolo DOCG 2015 Margheria — “vanilla, plums, cherries, good depth, powerful on the palate, lovely juiciness, amazing length with absolute long term ageing potential”
Rank #11-20: 92 points
11. Alessandria Fratelli Barolo DOCG 2015 Gramolere
12. Alessandria Fratelli Barolo DOCG 2015 Monvigliero
13. Bovio Gianfranco Barolo DOCG 2015 Rocchettevino
14. Cagliero Barolo DOCG 2015 Ravera
15. Conterno Diego Barolo DOCG 2015 Ginestra
16. Morra Diego Barolo DOCG 2015
17. Oddero Poderi e Cantine Barolo DOCG 2015 Villero
18. Paolo Manzone Barolo DOCG 2015 Meriame
19. Pecchenino Barolo DOCG 2015 Bussia
20. Rizieri Barolo DOCG 2015 Rizieri
Rank # 21-37: 91 points
21. 460 Casina Bric Barolo DOCG 2015 Bricco Delle Viole
22. Alario Claudio Barolo DOCG 2015 Sorano
23. Boroli Barolo DOCG 2015 Villero
24. Bovio Gianfranco Barolo DOCG 2015 Gattera
25. Dosio Barolo DOCG 2015 Serradenari
26. Fenocchio Giacomo Barolo DOCG 2015 Bussia
27. Fontana Livia Barolo DOCG 2015 Villero
28. Fratelli Serio & Battista Borgogno Barolo DOCG 2015 Cannubi
29. Le Cecche Barolo DOCG 2015 Bricco San Pietro
30. Olivero Mario Barolo DOCG 2015 Bricco Ambrogio
31. Pio Cesare Barolo DOCG 2015
32. Pira-Chiara Boschis Barolo DOCG 2015 Via Nuova
33. Prunotto Barolo DOCG 2015
34. Raineri Gianmatteo Barolo DOCG 2015 Perno
35. Roccheviberti Barolo DOCG 2015 Rocche Di Castiglione
36. Serradenari Giulia Negri Barolo DOCG 2015 La Tartufaia
37. Vietti Barolo DOCG 2015 Ravera
Rank #38-65: 90 points
38. Abrigo Fratelli Barolo DOCG 2015 Ravera
39. Agricola Giampiero Marrone Barolo DOCG 2015 Pichemej
40. Arnaldo Rivera Barolo DOCG 2015 Arnaldorivera Monvigliero
41. Ascheri Barolo DOCG 2015 Sorano
42. Barale Fratelli Barolo DOCG 2015 Bussia
43. Benevelli Piero di Benevelli Massimo Barolo DOCG 2015 Ravera Di Monforte
44. Boasso Franco-Gabutti Barolo DOCG 2015 Gabutti
45. Boroli Barolo DOCG 2015 Brunella
46. Bricco Giubellini Barolo DOCG 2015 Del Comune di Monforte d’Alba
47. Bricco Maiolica Barolo DOCG 2015 Contadin
48. Casa E. di Mirafiore Barolo DOCG 2015 Paiagallo
49. Cascina Adelaide Barolo DOCG 2015 Cannubi
50. Cascina del Monastero Barolo DOCG 2015 Bricco Luciani
51. Castello di Radda Barolo DOCG 2015 Castelletto
52. Conterno Fantino Barolo DOCG 2015 Vigna Sori Ginestra
53. Crissante Alessandria Barolo DOCG 2015 Capalot
54. Crissante Alessandria Barolo DOCG 2015 Galina
55. Marengo Mauro Barolo DOCG 2015
56. Monchiero Fratelli Barolo DOCG 2015 Rocche Di Castiglione
57. Negretti Barolo DOCG 2015 Bricco Ambrogio
58. Palladino Barolo DOCG 2015 Parafada
59. Pecchenino Barolo DOCG 2015 San Giuseppe
60. Poderi Colla Barolo DOCG 2015 Bussia Dardi Le Rose
61. Rocche Costamagna Barolo DOCG 2015 Rocche Dell’Annunziata
62. Stroppiana Dario Barolo DOCG 2015 San Giacomo
63. Vietti Barolo DOCG 2015 Lazzarito
64. Virna Borgogno Barolo DOCG 2015 Cannubi
65. Vite Colte Barolo DOCG 2015 Essenze Del Comune di Barolo
For the Barolo Riserva DOCG 2013, I gave nine out of the 32 entries scores of 90 points and above:
Rank # 1: 95 points
1. Gomba Cascina Boschetti Barolo Riserva DOCG 2013 Boschetti — “a super fruit bomb, luscious and captivating on all levels from nose, palate to finish, amazing depth with no signs of letdown even for long-haul keeping”
Rank # 2: 93 points
2. Cascina Adelaide Barolo Riserva DOCG 2013 Per Elen — “sophisticated nose, cinammon, cedar, very viscous on the palate, delicious, grainey, long raisiney finish; a wine that makes an excellent argument for extended oak-ageing”
Rank # 3-4: 91 points
3. Fontanafredda Barolo Riserva DOCG 2013
4. Piazzo Armando Barolo Riserva DOCG 2013 Sottocastello Di Novello
Rank #5-9: 90 points
5. Fratelli Serio & Battista Borgogno Barolo Riserva DOCG 2013 Cannubi
6. Gigi Rosso Barolo Riserva DOCG 2013 Arione Dell’Ulivo
7. Palladino Barolo Riserva DOCG 2013 San Bernardo
8. Renzo Seghesio Cascina Pajana Barolo Riserva DOCG 2013 Ginestra Vigna Pajana
9. Rivetto dal 1902 Barolo Riserva DOCG 2013 Leon
Please be aware that some brands have been cited more than once, and that is why the “Cru Village” name is attached to the Barolo brand if the cru is included, to show the different labels of the same Barolo producer. For example, by coincidence I gave two wines from Alessandria Fratelli both 92 points, but one wine is from the Gramorele Cru in the Monforte commune, and other is from the Monvigliero Cru in the Verduno commune.
Barolo lovers have a lot to cheer about with this batch of new releases. A vast majority of these brands will probably not come our way here in Manila, but if there is a chance to buy them online, or to go to nearby Hong Kong or Singapore to look for these 2015 Barolos, it will definitely be worth the effort!
The author has been a member of the Federation Internationale des Journalists et Ecrivains du Vin et des Spiritueux or FIJEV since 2010. For comments, inquiries, wine event coverage, and other wine-related concerns, e-mail the author at protegeinc@yahoo.com. He is also on Twitter at twitter.com/sherwinlao.

Razon offers to build new dam as taps run dry

TYCOON Enrique Razon is pushing to build a new dam east of the capital to prevent another water shortage hitting thousands of people in Metro Manila as the dry season begins.
Wawa Dam in Rizal province can be the nearest major source of bulk water and provide 80 million liters per day by 2021 and 540 million liters daily by 2024, Mr. Razon said in a mobile-phone message. The billionaire said his group can start building the dam by the end of 2019 after signing a supply agreement with Manila Water Co. Inc. and securing environment and other permits.
“Our water project is obviously badly needed,” Mr. Razon said. “But it’s not an immediate fix and is for the medium-to-long-term or this will be a recurring problem.” The water regulator supports the project, Mr. Razon said. President Rodrigo Duterte has tapped $211 million in Chinese loans for a dam south of Manila as another water source.
Residents in the Philippine capital have been queuing for water rations for more than a week, armed with pails and basins while fire trucks are deployed to provide water to hospitals and schools. Some people who live in condominiums have resorted to fetching water from swimming pools, according to Twitter posts. More than 50,000 households are affected, said Manila Water, which services half the capital region that’s suffering from water shortage.
Manila Water, controlled by Ayala Corp., is seeking to tap 32 million liters a day from Maynilad Water Services Inc., which supplies the other half of the capital, to help address a daily shortage of 140 million liters, Chief Operating Officer Geodino Carpio said at a briefing on Tuesday. It’s also rushing to partially operate soon a delayed water treatment plant to add 50 million liters a day and have more deep wells.
Manila Water said the shortage was caused by rising demand aggravated by the start of the dry season and its delayed treatment plant. Maynilad Water gets more supply from the main source which is Angat Dam and has a new treatment facility, Carpio said.
Maynilad is also looking for new water sources to sustain adequate supply, Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said. Maynilad is willing to share its water supply with Manila Water to address the current shortage, Mr. Pangilinan said. — Bloomberg

EastWest Bank books lower income in 2018

EAST WEST Banking Corp. (EastWest Bank) booked a lower net income in 2018 as its net revenues declined slightly due to margin compression.
In a disclosure to the local bourse on Wednesday, the Gotianun-led lender said it booked a P4.5-billion net profit last year, 11.8% lower than the P5.1 billion tallied in 2017.
EastWest Bank’s full-year income translated to a return on equity of 11% and return on assets of 1.4%.
Net revenues stood at P25.5 billion, down 0.8% from the P25.7 billion logged the prior year on lower margins as deposit interest costs grew “significantly higher” and as its fixed income trading profits declined.
The bank also attributed its lower net revenues to the suspension of EastWest Rural Bank’s lending program to teachers in the first half of 2018.
In early 2018, the Department of Education suspended its automatic payroll deduction system for loans and insurance payments until June as it worked on new guidelines, making EastWest Rural Bank as well as other lenders unable to issue loans for public school teachers.
EastWest Bank’s net interest income grew 4.3% to P19.3 billion in 2018 from P18.5 billion the previous year as growth in consumer loans offset lower interest margins.
The lender said its consumer business accounted for 70% of its total loan portfolio last year as auto, credit card and personal loans grew by 16%.
Net interest margin was at 7.4%, with EastWest Bank claiming it to be the highest among universal banks.
Fees and commissions also went down 9% to P4.9 billion, dragged by the suspension of the teachers’ lending program of its rural banking arm as well as regulatory changes.
Trading income slipped 34% year-on-year to P502.7 million.
The lender set aside P3.8 billion in provisions for loan losses, down 16% from 2017’s level, with the bank saying its consumer loan portfolio “has largely matured.”
Excluding the provisions, operating expenses increased by 10% to P15.4 billion, almost half of which were due to higher spending for training, advertising and higher documentary stamp taxes.
Overall, EastWest Bank’s total assets grew by 16% to P367.4 billion at end-2018.
Jesus Roberto S. Reyes, EastWest Bank president and deputy chief executive officer, said the bank managed to register a good level of profitability in 2018 despite the “more challenging” external developments.
“We are positive that 2019 will be a better year for EastWest Bank as interest rates stabilize and the country’s growth story continues,” Mr. Reyes was quoted as saying in the statement.
EastWest Bank shares closed unchanged at P12.22 each on Wednesday. — KANV

Vizio wants next-generation smart TVs to target ads to households

SMART TV manufacturer Vizio has formed a partnership with nine media and advertising companies to develop an industry standard that will allow smart TVs to target advertisements to specific households, the companies said Tuesday.
The consortium includes major TV networks like Comcast Corp.’s NBC Universal and CBS Corp., as well as advertising technology companies like AT&T Inc.’s Xandr.
Addressable advertising, or targeting viewers on the household level based on their interests, has long been the goal of TV marketers. But TVs lack cookies that internet browsers use to allow ads to follow people around the web. And TV manufacturers have so far used different technology and standards to enable addressable advertising, hindering the industry’s growth, said Jodie McAfee, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Inscape, a subsidiary of Vizio.
“It creates a level of complication for (TV networks), and scale is critical,” he said in an interview.
Privacy advocates have voiced concerns that targeted advertising may invade privacy and the information gathered could be misused or hacked.
The consortium of companies, dubbed Project OAR, or Open Addressable Ready, hopes to define the technical standards for TV programmers and platforms to deliver addressable advertising on smart TVs, which are Wi-Fi-enabled TVs with apps for services like Netflix Inc. and Hulu, by the end of this year, McAfee said.
The consortium will need to decide on aspects like the technology to switch out ads and serve them to specific households, as well how it should be built, McAfee said.
While Inscape, which specializes in smart TV data, will build the technology, it will be an open standard, meaning any TV manufacturer or connected-device company will be able to integrate the standard in their products.
Vizio, which initiated the conversations with the nine partners, has committed to using the standard in its future TV models.
The California-based company is the second-largest smart TV brand with 16% of the North American market in 2018, according to information and analytics firm IHS Markit, behind Samsung which has 29% market share. — Reuters

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